Another week down means another awesome King of the Week! This week it's number 26, Garret Vander Ploeg, who plays right wing for the Strathmore Wheatland Kings! Currently sitting at the number two spot on the team for points, Vander Ploeg has eight goals and eight assists to give him 16 points on the season so far.

Lacing up a pair of skates pretty much as soon as he could walk, and playing hockey for as long as he can remember, Vander Ploeg has played for the Kings for three years now making him a seasoned veteran! Vander Ploeg comes from a pretty big sports family. His dad really loves hockey, his sister likes to dance and he even used to play on the Wheatland Kings with his brother, so that's what really drove him into liking hockey and other sports as well.

When it comes down to Vander Ploeg's down time, he likes to watch basketball, and stay active by playing baseball and golf in the summer and even shoot some hoops a little himself. He's also busy going to school right now and taking broadcasting at Mount Royal University and says he's having a lot of fun doing that. 

With two games coming up this weekend, Vander Ploeg hopes to add to his points total, but more importantly get two big wins for his team. The Kings played both Cochrane and High River last weekend and play them both again this weekend. Vander Ploeg thinks his team will fair pretty well going into this weekend and says he's confident his team can win both their games.

When it comes to preparing for game day, Vander Ploeg says he's a little more of a superstitious guy on the team than most. He has to have things a certain way otherwise he says it throws him off his game. Some of the things he has to do before a game is play with a soccer ball, eat some sort of fruit and a few specific things he does every warm up to get ready. Vander Ploeg says it might sound weird, but it works for him!

The Wheatlad Kings next home game is Sunday, November 24 at 4:45 p.m. against the Cochrane Generals. You can get in to watch some fast paced hockey action this weekend for the low, low price of a can of corn! Bring a food bank donation and get into the Kings game and cheer them on!

Go Kings Go!